U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Ludington issued a default judgment against the city today, concluding the law department failed to properly respond to a civil rights lawsuit by a man who claims potentially thousands have been mistreated in the city’s jail.

Ludington did not say how much the city will have to pay, but he did grant the plaintiff’s request for damages.

The plaintiff, Gratiot County resident Johnathan Aaron Brown, claims that in 2007, he was arrested by the DPD and detained “in a cold, isolated holding cell without proper food, blankets or a pillow for 55 hours,” court records show.

Brown filed the lawsuit in June. But since then, the city “has repeatedly missed the deadlines and ignored the Court’s orders,” Ludington wrote.

"At this point, defendant apparently refuses to even speak with plaintiff's attorneys or respond to their written inquiries," Ludington wrote.

Krystal Crittendon, head of the city's Law Department, could not be reached for comment.
http://www.freep.com/article/2011041...text|FRONTPAGE